Sirius and the truth

Ok, so I don't usually post on these sites, just stalk, but I was rewatching POA today and I had a question. Does anyone know if there is a reason Veritaserum can't be used on people on trial? Like, imagine how differently things could have gone if someone has given Sirius some truth serum and asked him if he's guilty. Or asked Harry if he heard Peter admit it was him?

Now obviously, the story needed to go this way for the plot and all, but I was just wondering if this had every been addressed or anything?

Harry Potter Sirius Black Veritaserum

The Dark Marc·7/21/2024

Too many ways to resist it- Occlumency, certain potions and charms.

Rosie. Geee·7/21/2024

The canonical reason as explained in the books themselves is that the potion only makes you say what you believe to be true. So if you mis-saw/mis-heard a situation you would say how you interpreted events, if you’re memory has been altered you’d be lying without realizing it, finally if you are just plain crazy you’d say whatever you believe in that moment.

Because there are so many ways that a person given the serum can say something other than the objective factual truth it isn’t usable in court.

Jules.spare.acc·7/21/2024

Ohhh i didnt remember that it wasnt the objective truth haha. ty for answering!

Lazonga·7/22/2024

It only forces perceived truth, so not 100% reliable, plus there are ways to resist/overcome it. They thought Sirius was completely insane, so they wouldn’t trust anything he said under Veritaserum anyway. Also, the Ministry felt they didn’t need to use it as they had enough ‘proof’ he was guilty (Pettigrew’s finger and eyewitness accounts to the murder/explosion). He didn’t even get a trial because the ‘evidence’ was so overwhelming 😭

(Edited by Lazonga)

What do you think?